A Survival Game Where You Have to Fall in Love with a Madman - Chapter 25

The livestream chat was also growing tense:

[ID: Lord He’s Long-Lost Sister] This is so thrilling! Why does Lord He keep undermining his own teammates?

[ID: Belial] Newbie. There’s no such thing as “teammates” in a solo dungeon game. It’s not a team format.

[ID: Working-Class Rookie] Is You Yan really a Commoner? This trash system just pixelated the screen and didn’t let us see.

[ID: Double-B] That’s exactly what makes it exciting!

Lin Xiaoyu said timidly, “I… I think we should vote again…”

“Voting begins,” the crow mask announced.

You Yan’s gaze briefly met Chen Yiyi’s; a silent understanding passed between them. No matter what, they had to protect each other at least for this round.

“Defenses concluded. Please recast your votes,” the mechanical voice of the crow mask declared.

You Yan’s fingers quietly hooked around the blue gauge on his wrist. If he was voted out this time, he would make certain people pay the price especially that lunatic with the moonlight-blue hair.

He Yanqing seemed to sense his intent. An excited smile curved his lips, and his fingers lightly brushed over the red cord and short knife at his waist.

The game was just getting started.

When the voting results were revealed, You Yan’s pupils contracted slightly. The situation was even more complicated than he had imagined…

Three votes for Zhang Wei, two votes for You Yan, and one vote for Chen Yiyi.

Two people had abstained. Because everyone had cast their votes silently in their minds this time, no one knew who had voted for whom.

“No! Damn it, you idiots!” Zhang Wei roared, but his voice was instantly stifled by an unseen power.

His body began to levitate, his face a mask of terror and disbelief.

The entrance to the Black Mist Maze slowly ground open like the throat of a massive beast, accompanied by the groaning screech of metal. Thick, viscous fog billowed from the depths of the pitch-black corridor, crawling along the ground as if it were alive. Dark red rust clung to the walls on either side, pulsing through the darkness like dried veins.

Whenever the fog swirled, a sharp, twisting shriek of metal echoed from deep within, sounding like countless iron chains grinding living flesh to pieces. The ground trembled slightly; something massive was slithering through the viscera of the maze.

The air at the entrance carried the metallic tang of rot. Inhaling it felt like swallowing freezing iron filings. Most terrifying of all was the fog itself it would occasionally condense into the shape of skeletal claws, leaving frostbitten finger-marks on the back of a pathfinder’s neck. And when you turned around, you would only see two dim red lights at the end of the corridor, looking precisely like a pair of slowly opening eyes.

“Player Zhang Wei has been eliminated. Role: Commoner.”

The moment the words fell, Zhang Wei was thrown directly into the maze entrance. As the heavy doors slammed shut, his bloodcurdling screams were abruptly cut off.

You Yan’s breath hitched. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall: 11:00 AM.

The first day’s game had taken exactly one hour. In another hour, the maze doors would automatically open for a duration of six hours, granting the remaining players an opportunity to actively explore.

However, what he hadn’t anticipated was that eliminated players would have their role cards exposed.

“The first day’s voting phase has concluded. Players may wait until twelve o’clock to freely explore the maze or continue discussions,” the crow mask stated before vanishing on the spot.

Liu Xin was visibly stunned. He hadn’t expected Zhang Wei’s role to be a Commoner. His previous move of arbitrarily granting You Yan a “Good Citizen” status might heavily backfire and impact the rest of the game…

You Yan’s gaze swept across Pei Baiyang’s enigmatic smile, He Yanqing’s playful smirk, and Li Luoyu’s seemingly ordinary expression. Intelligent people like Pei Baiyang and He Yanqing were undoubtedly doubting his role card now.

Currently, one Commoner card had been exposed, leaving only two left.

Chen Yiyi gently brushed the long hair on her shoulder, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. She lowered her eyelashes, casting a shadow in the candlelight that perfectly concealed the sharp gleam in her eyes.

“What a pity…” she sighed softly, her voice as gentle as a feather brushing past an ear. “To think Mr. Zhang Wei was actually a Commoner.”

She deliberately let her voice tremble at the end, appearing as though she genuinely grieved for the wrongly executed player.

“Miss Chen seems very heartbroken?” Pei Baiyang spoke up suddenly, his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses cutting like a knife.

Chen Yiyi’s heart tightened, but she showed no sign of it on her face. Raising her slightly reddened eyes, she bit her lower lip. “After all… someone was sacrificed completely innocently…”

She intentionally let her voice crack, noticing the sympathetic look Lin Xiaoyu threw her way. Perfect another person successfully fooled.

But Pei Baiyang was clearly not that easy to manipulate. The lawyer tapped his long fingers against the table. “Interesting. During the vote just now, you appeared to cast an abstention?”

It was a trap question.

Chen Yiyi instantly grew alert. She had indeed stated aloud that she would abstain during the open discussion, but no one knew who she had actually selected in her mind. Pei Baiyang was testing her.

“I…” She lowered her head, letting her long hair veil half her face. “I was just too scared at the time. I didn’t know how to choose…”

He Yanqing suddenly leaned across the table from opposite her, his bangs falling over his brow. “My, my, Miss Yiyi looks truly adorable when she cries~” He tilted his head, his smile dangerous. “But tears are useless in a dungeon game, you know.”

Chen Yiyi felt a cold shiver crawl up her spine. This madman was sharper than she had expected; she had to redirect the focus.

“I didn’t…” She took a deep breath, and when she raised her head, her eyes were already brimming with tears. “I just think that voting randomly without concrete evidence is far too cruel…”

She purposely looked toward You Yan, seemingly searching for support. This was a brilliant move—it simultaneously painted her as kind and innocent while shifting the spotlight onto another heavily suspected individual.

You Yan gave her a freezing look but didn’t say a word. She was obviously trying to redirect everyone’s suspicion back onto him. Was she planning to sell out her teammate to save herself?

However, Chen Yiyi noticed that his fingers tracing the wooden knife paused for a fraction of a second he had received her underlying hint.

Liu Xin crossed his hands over the table. “Mr. Pei, pushing a young lady like this isn’t very gentlemanly, is it? Miss Yiyi is clearly part of the good faction.”

Internally, Chen Yiyi sneered. This self-proclaimed “Seer” was incredibly gullible. On the surface, however, she cast a grateful gaze toward Liu Xin and even nodded lightly.

“Is that so?” Pei Baiyang remained noncommittal, his eyes still locked onto Chen Yiyi. “Then can you explain why your very first reaction when Zhang Wei was announced eliminated was to look at You Yan?”

Chen Yiyi’s blood froze instantly. She hadn’t been aware of that micro-expression at all! She rapidly calculated the consequences of various responses in her mind.

The livestream chat erupted into fierce debate:

[ID: Lawyer Pei’s Spectacles] I told you his phrasing was incredibly precise. Turns out he’s a lawyer. Truly a sly dog.

[ID: The Fish that Eats Cats] He seems incredibly powerful too. I can’t even see his ability evaluation.

[ID: Keyboard Warrior] No kidding. Out of these eight people, the only profile I can actually read is that NPC’s.

[ID: Lord He’s Bowtie] Hahahahaha! The comment above captures the essence perfectly. Can you give the NPC some face?

Two seconds later, she decided to deploy a half-true strategy.

“Because…” She bit her lip, her voice so soft it was barely audible. “I was afraid that Mr. You Yan would also be falsely accused…”

A flawless answer. It simultaneously explained her behavior and reinforced her innocent persona. Chen Yiyi even managed to let a single tear slip down her cheek at the perfect moment a technique she had practiced countless times.

Sure enough, Lin Xiaoyu took the bait. “Mr. Pei, please stop… Sister Yiyi clearly means well.”

Pei Baiyang leaned back against his chair contemplatively, finally letting the matter drop for the time being.

Chen Yiyi secretly let out a sigh of relief, though she didn’t dare lower her guard. She knew the real ordeal lay ahead.

Seeing the discussion wind down, You Yan leaned forward against the table and closed his eyes to rest. A single round of this game was thoroughly exhausting.